Island veteran slams ‘No’ campaign
STRUGGLE veteran Sunny Singh has labelled former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils’s “no vote” campaign as “dangerous”.
Kasrils is encouraging South Africans to vote against the ANC or spoil their ballots.
But Singh, one of President Jacob Zuma’s fellow prisoners on Robben Island, said although he had a lot of respect for Kasrils, turning on the ruling party could not bring about positive change.
“One of the pillars of our democracy and our struggle for freedom was the opportunity to vote. It is a fundamental right,” he said.
“I have been 55 years with the ANC. Yes, there are problems, human problems which need to be dealt with. But running away from the house I don’t think will help strengthen the weaknesses.”
Such campaigns could lead only to “confusing the population”.
“We were denied freedom of choice in this country. People now have choices to make, and Ronnie also has a choice to make. That is his choice and I think that, as a veteran of the struggle, it is the wrong choice. But we cannot punish people who take another route. The election results will show who was right and who was wrong.”
He said he would remain faithful to the party he had called home for more than five decades.
“We have made tremendous gains in this country. I feel very few countries in the world have made gains like South Africa has. Yes, our education hasn’t been the best in terms of our performance, but there are more people going to school today than there were before 1994.
“There are now tens of thousands who have homes, but it is far from the end of the road. We still have a lot of work to do as a nation in all the spheres.”